SAINT MARY'S VS. NEBRASKA WESLEYAN / THURSDAY, DEC. 28, 2006 / SMU GYM / 5 P.M.

Saint Mary's Cardinals
2-5 Overall
Home / Stats / Roster / Schedule
Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves
4-6 Overall
Home / Stats / Roster / Schedule

Hoops Home / Standings / Stats


Official GameDay Program
Game Notes / Listen Live

Cardinal In The Spotlight

John Gencius

Year: Senior

Pos.: Wing

Hometown: Chicago, Ill.

Major: Social Science

From Coach Trewick: "John has gotten better and better over his four years. With his work ethic and smarts, John will make a great coach someday.”



Game Notes
Tonight's game is the first-ever meeting between SMU and Nebraska Wesleyan. … The Cardinals have been off since Dec. 9, when they dropped a 79-57 decision to NCAA Division II Minnesota State University-Mankato. … Nebraska Wesleyan, meanwhile, dropped its sixth straight, falling to Simpson 68-66 on Dec. 15.

Cardinal Notes

Dan Cormer
Reigning
MIAC Player
of the Week
The Cardinals' wins vs. Macalester and Hamline on Dec. 4 & 6 marked the first time SMU has won back-to-back games this season. … SMU's win at Hamline snapped a 13-game road losing streak, dating back to a 61-56 win at Augsburg on Dec. 3, 2005. … The record of SMU's opponents in the Cardinals' five losses is 34-5 (10-0 Winona State; 3-3 UW-Eau Claire; 6-0 St. Thomas; 5-1 Saint John's; and 10-0 MSU-Mankato). …  Dan Cormier (Blaine, Minn.) had a career week, netting a career-high 20 points in SMU's win vs. Macalester, then eclipsing that mark with his 25-point effort — including hte game-winning basket with eight seconds remaining — against the Pipers two days later. Cormier's effort earned him MIAC Player of the Week honors. … Brensley Haywood (Joliet, Ill.) netted his second straight 19-point effort vs. Macalester last Monday. … Haywood netted a team-best 18 points in Saturday's loss to MSU-Mankato. … Haywood has now scored in double figures in six of SMU's seven games, while leading the team with a 14.3 ppg average.

Prairie Wolves Notes
After opening the season with four straight wins, the Prairie Wolves have dropped six straight. … Nebraska Wesleyan netted a game-high 101 points in a win over Finlandia on Nov. 18 and scored 70 or more points during their season-opening four-game winning streak. … During their last six games, however, the Prairie Wolves’ offense has scored more than 70 points just once. … Marcus Minzel and Kyle Eller have been Nebraska Wesleyan’s top scorers, averaging 13.7 ppg and 10.7 ppg, respectively. … Minzel had a career-high 29 points on Dec. 9 against the University of Sioux Falls, ranked No. 3 in NAIA Division II. … The Prairie Wolves have just two upperclassmen playing significant minutes this season. Most recently, in a two-point loss to Simpson College on Dec. 15, NWU started two first-year players (Eller andRoy O'Neil) and two sophomores (Brandon Arp and Matt Joynt). … Nebraska Wesleyan University, located in Lincoln, Neb., is the only NCAA Division III member in the state of Nebraska. The NWU men have made five NCAA Final Four appearances in their history (1962, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1997). The Prairie Wolves also belong to the NAIA and are members of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, which includes a total of 13 faith-based NAIA institutions from Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.